JULY 23, 2002

How rumors start...

LAST week a usually reliable source in America reported that British American racing test driver Anthony Davidson would shortly be testing for Jaguar Racing. It seemed an odd story at the time but the source was good and these things are almost impossible to check nowadays as many of the Formula 1 teams have little credibility left after failing to tell the truth on too many occasions in the past.

Team bosses are happy to berate the press for making mistakes but do not help matters by not always being entirely honest. This means that, in general terms, the process of checking stories has become increasingly meaningless.

Our sources at Jaguar said there was no such plan but how then did such a story begin?

It seems that our source was misled by a reference to "the green team" rather than "Team Green".